Chapter 158: Star Realm Tunnel
In this vast universe, the most crucial means for intergalactic travel is the Star Realm Tunnel.
A single Star Realm Tunnel connects two galaxies, compressing hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of light-years into a journey of just days, weeks, or, at most, about a month.
Spaceships and starships capable of entering the Star Realm Tunnel essentially enter a hyperspace state once inside the tunnel.
The typical mode of travel for a starship in the universe involves sub-light-speed travel within a star system, jumping from one warp point to another, entering the Star Realm Tunnel to reach another galaxy, and then finding the next warp point...
This requires both a star map and a navigator.
The latter are specially trained psionic beings.
Only they can identify the specific locations of the Star Realm Tunnel warp points in the cosmic void, guiding the ships through the tunnels to reach the other side.
Thus, the so-called star map holds significance.
The star map displays various star regions connected by the Star Realm Tunnel.
Two neighboring star systems may be vastly different in physical terms.
Perhaps two physically close star systems are only a few dozen light-years apart, but without a direct connection via a Star Realm Tunnel, travel between them may require several jumps through multiple tunnels, making them seem far apart.
In contrast, two star systems physically separated by tens of thousands of light-years might appear close on the star map due to a single connecting tunnel.
Within the human empire, the physical distances between star systems have little significance.
Without a Star Realm Tunnel, relying solely on a ship's sub-light-speed propulsion makes communication between even the closest star systems impractical.
Of course, physical distance cannot be entirely ignored.
Some strange beings manage to brave the passage of countless years, slowly traveling through the cosmic void and eventually emerging.
In the Empire's territorial divisions—cosmic domain, star region, star sector, and star system—these four layers are structured based on the star map.
The dense network of Star Realm Tunnels connects the entire Empire's territory, forming a massive web.
Within the Fury Owl Galaxy, there are three Star Realm Tunnels: Tunnel One connects to the Koroga Galaxy, Tunnel Two links to the Black Arrow Galaxy, and Tunnel Three connects, not to the Pegasus Sector, but to the neighboring Gallant Star Sector.
Both the Pegasus and Gallant Star Sectors belong to the Dragonhawk Star Region, all under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Cosmic Domain.
Wang Jiarong's merchant fleet had just arrived from Tunnel One, having recently completed a transaction in the Koroga Galaxy.
Originally, her travel plans did not include the backwater Fury Owl Galaxy; it was Alicia who relayed her cousin's request to her.
After some thought, she decided to detour to the Fury Owl Galaxy, then head through Tunnel Two to the Black Arrow Galaxy, loop back to Koroga Galaxy Three, and return to the capital Flywing Star, which was still manageable.
Extra distance and planets to cover wouldn’t hurt profits much—at worst, she wouldn’t earn as much, but it was worth it to support her cousin, who she used to play with as a child.
The jump from the Koroga Galaxy to the Fury Owl Galaxy required the fleet to travel five days through the Star Realm Tunnel.
The first four days passed without incident, as usual, showing bizarre scenes outside the windows.
In truth, as long as they stayed within the ship's bounds and didn’t release exploratory devices or probes, there was no danger.
However, on the fifth day, the navigator aboard the *Beautiful Maiden* reported an unusual signal in the Star Realm Tunnel; it seemed that a fleet was following closely behind them, also traversing the tunnel.
This discovery unsettled Wang Jiarong.
The route from Koroga to Fury Owl was notoriously desolate; it wasn’t a busy passage, so much so that the Empire hadn’t bothered to set up inspection stations at the warp points on either side.
This neglect had persisted for centuries since the decline of Fury Owl.
Who else, besides her fleet, would travel through here?
Could they be heading to the neighboring Gallant Star Sector?
That was also unlikely; the prosperous hive world Koroga had a direct route to the Gallant Star Sector.
No one would take the detour to Fury Owl to reach Gallant—it was out of the way and costlier, something nobody would bother with.
So what was the deal with this fleet?
In interstellar navigation, every anomaly must be met with vigilance.
Even within the Empire's cosmic domain, safety wasn’t guaranteed.
Pirates were a common threat, and alien dangers abounded.
The Empire deemed all non-human species as alien threats, committed to eradicating all intelligent life forms other than humanity.
Moreover, navigating the Star Realm Tunnel could lead to some… uncanny occurrences.
These included abandoned ships adrift within the tunnel, sudden crew losses of dozens or even hundreds of personnel, and sometimes, mysteriously gained personnel...
These incidents had become almost commonplace.
But now, aware of multiple ships following closely behind in the same Star Realm Tunnel, they had no choice but to exercise caution.
Upon exiting the Star Realm Tunnel, they dared not linger, opting instead to switch engine modes, gradually accelerating to sub-light-speed limits and headed toward Fury Owl Planet.
Wang Jiarong knew that Alicia’s cruiser was stationed in orbit around Fury Owl.
After regrouping with the *Quintet*, her merchant ship would have formidable protection.
To this end, she ordered the ship’s Star Whisperer—another role requiring psionic training—to attempt contact with the *Quintet*.
However, the Star Whisperer delivered disappointing news: they couldn’t reach the *Quintet*.
Messages had been sent, yet no response came.
This deepened Wang Jiarong’s sense of unease.
There were only two possible explanations for the lack of response: either their Star Whisper communications were blocked, or the *Quintet* simply couldn’t receive their messages.
Neither option was good.
Transitioning from warp travel to sub-light speed required some time for engine acceleration.
She now hoped that this acceleration process would pass swiftly; for this, she repeatedly urged the Mechanized Priests overseeing the engines.
At the same time, she ordered the entire fleet to enter high alert, ready for combat at any moment.
The *Beautiful Maiden* was armed with eleven M-grade “Heat Hammer” macro cannons, ready for action.
The other three escort ships were each equipped with fifteen S-grade “Defender” rapid-fire cannons and three M-grade “Retribution” cluster laser cannons.
These ship cannons, as well as the operators and support systems like the Cogitator Arrays for fire control and navigation, were all primed for battle.
The Cogitator Arrays were collections of specially trained psionic beings, and even regular personnel, connected through cogitator technology, integrated with basic mechanical calculators to aid ship operations and support precision targeting for the cannons.
Despite taking all possible precautions, Wang Jiarong prayed to the God Emperor that disaster wouldn’t truly befall her.
It would be best if nothing happened; the current tension and preparations could be wasted, and it wouldn’t matter.
However, not every prayer yields a favorable result.
"They're coming out..." the navigator’s voice reached Wang Jiarong's ears.
She quickly returned to the command console, switching the display to the rear of the starship.
In the void, a fleet of ships gradually emerged.
In reality, they were over fifty thousand kilometers away.
Yet, in space, this distance was dangerously close.
The enlarged virtual image on the display showed the ships following them out of the warp point into real space, revealing their identity unmistakably:
A fleet of Greenskin orcs!
Their chaotic, cobbled-together appearance, like a heap of scrap metal, gave them away. Only Greenskin warships looked this haphazard.
Yet, despite their crude, wild, and unaesthetic appearance, these were indeed genuine interstellar warships.
“One, two, three, four... twelve Greenskin warships… Can anyone tell me why there are so many Greenskins here?!”
Wang Jiarong felt a bit shaken.
However, nobody could answer her question.
The mid-level managers at the control console were also no strangers to this situation; the orc ships trailing them were not easily dealt with.
In space, a starship's strength could be estimated by a simple measure: size.
This wasn’t always accurate, with countless exceptions to prove the rule, yet in cases where technology levels didn’t vary greatly, bigger ships were generally stronger.
Of the twelve Greenskin ships, four were the size of the Imperial destroyers, while the remaining eight matched the size of the escort ships.
Moreover, the giant guns on these ships adhered to the Greenskin style: caliber above all else!
Wang Jiarong forced herself to stay calm and issued orders, “Engines at full power, we must outrun these Greenskin ships before they gain speed.”
“All gunnery units, focus fire on the Greenskin fleet! Concentrate on a single target! Aim for damage!”
“Yes!”
At this critical moment, everyone understood the stakes, and nobody dared slack off.
Opening the gap and attempting to escape was the right choice.
The *Beautiful Maiden* was somewhat larger than a standard destroyer, though much of that space was designated as cargo holds.
The void shield strength and ship armor barely met destroyer standards, but the firepower was likely less than half that of a typical destroyer.
The other three escort ships were standard escorts, merely carrying some cargo.
Against a 4+8 Greenskin fleet, there was no hope in direct confrontation.
They fired mostly as a distraction; the priority was to flee.
And in full retreat, they couldn’t adjust the ship to maximize firepower toward the enemy—at best, only a third of their guns could shoot backward.
But the Greenskin ships had only
just left the Star Realm Tunnel.
Their energy shields were on but hadn’t reached full capacity.
Jumping out of the Star Realm Tunnel was the most vulnerable state for a starship.
Thus, after three rounds of concentrated fire, they managed to incapacitate one Greenskin escort ship.
The energy shield of that Greenskin ship overloaded, shifting from blue to a dangerous red.
Many shells penetrated the overloaded energy shield, striking the hull, shattering armor, and inflicting severe damage—close-up visuals would even reveal Greenskin orcs spilling from the ship’s damaged hull.
That Greenskin escort ship had lost its combat capability.
If the Greenskins won the battle, they might recover the ship and repair it, but for this battle, it posed no further threat.
The initial success somewhat bolstered Wang Jiarong’s spirits, and the morale of the merchant fleet rose slightly.
However, this was nearly the only good news, as bad news began to follow one after another.
When they turned their fire toward a second Greenskin ship, the Greenskin fleet had already overcome its initial post-jump vulnerability.
Their energy shields now operated at full power, making them harder to penetrate.
Moreover, their weapon systems also became fully operational.
The eleven remaining Greenskin ships opened fire simultaneously.
Kinetic cannons and Greenskin laser cannons fired with all their might.
The Greenskin ships maintained their race’s style; their armament quantities far exceeded those of human ships of the same class, with larger calibers.
Yet, they also inherited the characteristic of far inferior accuracy compared to human cannons.
But the close range, now only about seventy thousand kilometers, was nearly point-blank for space combat.
The human side was at a disadvantage.
On Wang Jiarong’s four ships, blue flashes appeared simultaneously around them as the void shields reacted to incoming fire.
In an instant, the void shields of all four ships showed signs of turning purple, a sign of imminent overload.